Governments and media around the world continue to debate the controversial issue of how to deal with people who cross their borders, often illegally, in search of asylum. In most countries however, the inevitable frontline role played by transport workers in the transit of these people has not been adequately debated or resolved.

Why is this such a big issue for transport unions?
Most people attempting to get into a country secretly or illegally have to use some form of transport to get across the border. In their desperation to flee persecution, war or hunger at home, people might smuggle themselves (or be smuggled by traffickers) onto a truck carrying freight, or onto a passenger or goods train, or stow themselves on board ships, or board aircraft with false papers. Hence most often it is drivers, seafarers, ticket collectors, cabin crew and other transport workers en route to the destination country who first encounter them.

The ITF has been working on this issue for around a decade, calling on governments to establish systems that protect the human rights of asylum seekers and immigrants, while protecting the right of transport workers to do their jobs safely, without hindrance, and without unfair expectations or responsibilities placed upon them.

What is the scale of the problem?
There are currently around 20 million people classified as “of concern to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees”, including cross-border refugees and people displaced within their own countries. Of the 12 million refugees, over three million are from Afghanistan, with large numbers also coming from Burundi, Iraq and Sudan. Worldwide in 2002 there were around one million applications for asylum – that is, applications for the right to take refuge in the chosen country.

The right to claim asylum in the face of persecution, death or imprisonment because of race, religion, sexual orientation or political activities is enshrined in international law at the United Nations.

Then why should transport workers worry?
In a bid to reduce the number of asylum seekers arriving in their countries, many governments have begun to penalise the carriers people use to cross borders. In Greece, for example, any employee, such as a pilot, ship’s captain, truck or taxi driver, who brings an illegal immigrant into the country – even if they don’t know about it – could face a heavy fine, or even a year in prison. In the UK, any transport operator carrying an illegal immigrant faces a £2,000 fine per passenger.

The result of this “carrier liability” has been that transport companies expect their employees to prevent asylum seekers from boarding vehicles. Sometimes, especially in trucking, companies pass their fines onto their workers. With this threat hanging over them, drivers have been expected to stop people physically from climbing on board vehicles, or to remove them once there.

So the issue is not just about penalties, but also safety?
Yes – the safety and security of transport workers is put at risk when asylum seekers attempt to use their vehicles to cross borders. Some transport workers have been threatened by asylum seekers, fearing that their attempt to cross a border would be prevented.

Workers on the Channel Tunnel train link between the UK and France have informed the ITF that they frequently face asylum seekers attempting to board trains, even while the train is moving. This can put the whole train at risk, including any passengers or workers on board. Some transport workers have witnessed horrific accidents and deaths among people attempting to jump on or off trains.

Where should transport workers draw the line?
Many transport companies expect their workers to check the immigration papers, passports and other official documentation of passengers. Many airport check-in staff, for example, are expected to examine the papers of passengers and to judge whether the documentation is legitimate. Cabin crew on airlines are also expected to look out for people they suspect are attempting to cross borders illegally.

Tasks like these put transport workers in a difficult and unacceptable position, especially when their primary responsibility should be for the safety of passengers. The ITF feels such duties are unsuitable for transport workers and should be left to immigration officials employed by governments. Transport workers are not trained for immigration work, and should not be expected to take on the responsibility of policing borders.

Safety denied
In August 2001, according to international convention, a Norwegian flagged ship, the Tampa, rescued 440 men, women and children from a sinking Indonesian vessel off the coast of Christmas Island, close to Australia.

But the Australian authorities refused to allow the desperate people ashore, fearing they would claim asylum. The ship’s master and his 27 crew members were forced to account for hundreds more passengers than the ship ought to have carried.

The ITF warned Australia that its actions were in breach of international conventions and risked setting a dangerous precedent, which could undermine future rescues at sea. This and similar appeals from all over the world went unheard.

The Tampa was forced to sail away from Christmas Island. It eventually transferred the refugees, many fleeing the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, to military vessels which took them to Papua New Guinea and Nauru. The master of the Tampa received international commendation for his actions, while Australia was internationally condemned.

What about the duty of workers to provide safe transport for all passengers?
This can be compromised by government policies on asylum seekers. Take the problem facing ships’ crews when they discover stowaways on board, or are called to rescue the crews of other vessels in distress. Under international conventions, including the United Nations Convention on the Laws of the Sea (Unclos), a ship is obliged to go to the rescue of another close-by vessel if it is in distress. Yet in some cases, where ships rescue large numbers of immigrants from drowning, crews find that nearby countries refuse to allow the people ashore.

In some terrible cases, stowaways on board ships have been thrown overboard, because ship’s captains or shipping companies would be fined if they came into port with the stowaway on board.

In August 2001, after a Norwegian flagged ship, the Tampa, rescued over 440 men, women and children, from a sinking Indonesian vessel close to Australia, the Australian authorities refused to allow the people ashore, fearing they would claim asylum.

Have these difficulties created conflict between transport workers and asylum seekers?
Tensions will have been unavoidable in many individual cases. But transport trade unions would not wish to blame asylum seekers themselves for the difficulties that arise as a result of the global refugee crisis. Indeed many members feel empathy for the distress of working people and their families who are forced to flee their own countries – in some cases because they face persecution for trade union activities.

What can be done about this problem?
The ITF believes international governments must establish proper processes for asylum and immigration, which do not pass responsibility or blame onto transport companies or transport workers.

The ITF campaigns at international bodies, including the United Nations, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) for international action to ensure asylum seekers are dealt with fairly and humanely, and to ensure that transport workers, their jobs and the integrity of the systems they work on are not adversely affected.

The ITF also works with particular governments as issues arise. Along with affiliated unions from Belgium, France and the UK, the ITF is lobbying for the French and British governments to do more to improve the safety of workers on the Channel Tunnel rail link, which has been targeted by asylum seekers attempting to reach the UK.

Information point

Suggested information sources

• Workers’ Rights are Human Rights: An ITF resource book (ITF, 2002)
• No Flights to Safety: Carrier Sanctions, Airline Employees and the Rights of Refugees, (Amnesty International/ITF 1997)
• Reslution number 24 ‘Persons in distress at sea’ passed at ITF Congress, Vancouver 2002, view online here>>
• ITF Policy on Stowaways, available from the ITF, or view online here>>  
• ITF Civil Aviation Section Working Paper 54: Facilitation, available from the section